Childhood

Joan Garrod

Childhood

What is childhood?

Some sociologists say that ‘childhood’ is a social construct.

• What do they mean by that?

• In our society, when do you think that someone stops being ‘a

child’?

Childhood

Childhood and particular ages

You may have included an age as part of your answer to the question

of when someone stops being ‘a child’. However, there are

problems in defining childhood in terms of age:

• Up to the nineteenth century many people in the UK did not know

their actual date of birth and so had only a rough guess as to their

age. Age status was often judged by how a person looked and

behaved.

• Try the following quiz to see how difficult it is to use a particular age

as ‘the end of childhood’.

Childhood

Quiz (1)

In England, at what age can you legally:

1. Buy a pet?

2. Give evidence in a court of law?

3. Be in part-time employment?

4. Hold your own passport?

5. Own a shotgun or airgun?

6. Sit on a jury?

[quiz continues on next slide]

Childhood

Quiz (2)

In England, at what age can you legally:

7. Be given a custodial sentence (i.e. be sentenced to prison or other

form of custody) if convicted of a crime?

8. Drink beer or wine with a meal in a licensed restaurant?

9. Emigrate without your parents?

10. Consent to medical or dental treatment?

11. Have a legal right to be heard?

12. Work as a street trader and/or sell scrap metal?

Childhood

Answers (1)

1. Buy a pet? 12

2. Give evidence in a court of law? At any age if the court considers

you old enough to understand the proceedings.

3. Be in part-time employment? 13

4. Hold your own passport? All British citizens must now hold their

own passport from birth.

5. Own a shotgun or airgun? 14

6. Sit on a jury? 18

[answers continue on next slide]

Childhood

Answers (2)

7. Be given a custodial sentence if convicted of a crime? 10

8. Drink beer or wine with a meal in a licensed restaurant? 5, but at

the licensee’s discretion.

9. Emigrate without your parents? 17

10. Consent to medical or dental treatment? 16

11. Have a legal right to be heard? At any age.

12. Work as a street trader and/or sell scrap metal? 16

Childhood

Is childhood better or worse now?

Some sociologists (and others) argue that childhood is now much

better than it was in the past. These ideas are often referred to as

the ‘march of progress’ theories.

Against these ideas are those which see childhood as worse in many

ways than it was in previous years. Some of these ideas have been

criticised as showing a romanticised view of childhood in the past.

Let’s look at the points that have been made in support of each side.

Childhood

Childhood as better now

Those arguing that childhood is better now point to the following:

•the fall in the infant mortality rate and improvements in child healthcare

•various pieces of legislation which have removed children from full-time work at an

early age, and offered young people protection when at work

•the gradual extension of the period in which children are in full-time education

•the development of legal rights for children

•the growth of specialist services for both children and parents to help to ensure the

wellbeing of children

•the development of specialist toys and literature considered ‘age-appropriate’

•legislation to protect children from things which would be harmful to them, e.g.

drugs, abusive adults, exposure to material considered ‘inappropriate’

Childhood

Childhood as worse now

Those arguing that childhood is worse now point to the following:

•the rise of obesity and health problems among many children

•increased rates of depression and mental health problems, particularly among

adolescents

•increased pressures on children and young people to ‘succeed’, especially in

education

•the damage inflicted on many children by the break-up of their family

•the psychological and physical abuse inflicted on many children, often by members

of their family, which in some cases has led to their death

•the blurring of the lines between children and adults, leading to the ‘loss of

innocence’

Childhood

Study tips

There are some important texts on the sociology of childhood, and you should

familiarise yourself with these using your textbooks, class notes and an internet

search using reputable sites.

Some useful names are provided in the next few slides, but remember that there are

others, and also that these notes give only the very briefest of summaries. You

must do further work yourself if you want to do your best in examinations.

Remember too that it is important, unless a question specifically restricts you to a

discussion of the UK, to show awareness that the position of children varies

enormously around the world. Other societies and cultures have very different

ideas of what it means to be a child.

Childhood

Philippe Ariès (1960)

Ariès was a French amateur historian known to sociologists for his view that the

notion of ‘childhood’ as a separate state is relatively new. He said that the

modern view of the family as ‘a private domestic circle founded on mutual

affection’ did not emerge until the seventeenth century.

He looked at depictions of children in medieval society, and one of his most-quoted

statements is ‘In medieval society the idea of childhood did not exist.’

However, our reading of his text is usually a translation from the original French,

and Cunningham (1960) points out that the French word translated as ‘idea’ is

‘sentiment’, which can also mean ‘feeling’. Cunningham suggests that Ariès

meant that in medieval times childhood was not recognised and valued as a

distinct phase.

Childhood

Lloyd de Mause (1982)

De Mause is another so-called ‘march of progress’ theorist. One of his often-quoted

sayings is: ‘The history of childhood is a nightmare from which we have

only just begun to awaken. The further back in history one goes, the

lower the level of childcare, and the more likely children are to be

killed, abandoned, beaten, terrorized and sexually abused.’

De Mause suggested that the ill-treatment of children in a society led to adults who

were war-like and aggressive. He controversially wrote that it was the attitudes

towards, and the harsh treatment of, children in German society in the early

twentieth century that allowed Nazism to develop. He said that childhood

brutality led to adults who had to re-inflict their childhood cruelties onto

scapegoats — in this case, the Jews.

Childhood

Neil Postman (1982)

In his book The Disappearance of Childhood, Postman suggests that the dividing line

between childhood and adulthood is beginning to disappear. He believes that

both the origin of childhood and the reasons for its decline lie in changes in

communications technology:

• Before the invention of the printing press, when all traditions and the passing on

of culture were oral, there was no sharp distinction between adults and children,

and childhood ended around the age of 7, when children had mastered speech.

• With the printed word, literacy became the great divide, with adulthood

dependent on being literate and/or mastering the habits of mind it promoted.

Adults could now control the information passed to children.

[continued on next slide]

Childhood

Neil Postman (1982), continued

• This monopoly and control by adults began to crumble with the advent of

electronic information, particularly when television was introduced directly into

the home. Television, argues Postman, is a visual medium which requires no

training to understand and which can be viewed by all. Children are exposed to

all aspects of the adult world.

• Postman’s ideas could be developed further with the increase in other forms of

communication, including social media and internet sites.

Childhood

Sue Palmer (2006)

Sue Palmer is a former head teacher and literacy expert who is well-known for her

book Toxic Childhood: How the modern world is damaging our children and what

we can do about it. She looks at a range of problems affecting children — e.g.

obesity, ADHD, bad behaviour, depression, autism and sleep deprivation.

She claims that while new technologies are benefiting adults, changes in adult

lifestyles have affected the way children are looked after, both at home and at

school. Children’s experiences are being ‘polluted’, leading to ‘toxic childhood

syndrome’. She writes: ‘Every year children become more distractible,

impulsive and self-obsessed — less able to learn, to enjoy life, to thrive

socially.'

You can watch a short video of Sue Palmer talking about her ideas here:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjvULWAXzFk

Childhood

Child labour

While child labour in Western societies has been progressively curtailed and

regulated, in many other parts of the world children are part of the labour force —

legally or illegally.

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) defines child labour as ‘work that

deprives children of their childhood, their potential and their dignity, and that is

harmful to physical and mental development’. The ILO estimates that around the

world around 215 million children under 18 work, many full-time and many in

hazardous occupations.

UNICEF estimates that around 150 million children aged 5–14 in developing countries

(about 16% of all children in this age group) are involved in child labour (

UNICEF 2011 State of the World’s Children).

Childhood

Child soldiers

• It is estimated there are 250,000 child soldiers in the world, 40% of them girls.

• The largest number are in Africa (Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic

Republic of Congo, Somalia, Sudan).

• The effects on the children are long-lasting. Many become desensitised to violence,

and they can be psychologically damaged for life. Most have missed out on school

and have very poor future prospects.

• In June 2013 the United Nations set a goal of having no child soldiers anywhere in

the world by 2016.

Source: War Child (a charity); see more at http://tinyurl.com/pp736xo

Childhood

Closing points

This has been a very brief look at some sociological aspects of childhood. You should

note that:

• Childhood is a ‘social construct’ — it means different things at different times, in

different places and to different groups.

• There is disagreement regarding whether, in Western societies in general and the

UK in particular, the experience of childhood has got ‘better’ or ‘worse’ —

remember that these are evaluative terms.

• As with any social group, there are considerable differences both within and

between different social and ethnic groups.

• In some parts of the world, children who in the West would still have many years of

education in front of them are engaged in often heavy and dangerous work or are

being used as soldiers.